The Novice Assassin: Part 2
13 Dec 2016Cartlidge1000
“Four… Three… Two… One… Engage,” the ship’s AI repeated before jumping into witch-space once again. Nick swore he was going to go mad if he didn’t find the menu that turned off the AI’s voice soon. Thankfully he had only a few more jumps before he reached NLTT 20330. Halfway through the journey Nick came to the conclusion that he wouldn’t be able to create a plan without knowing what he was getting into, so he instead focused on other things, specifically the money he was promised.A cobra. He was going to buy a cobra Mk III and fit it for speed. Though he hated to admit it, he knew he was a terrible pilot, and anything that wasn’t an Eagle was too slow for him to maneuver. What he was good at, however, was landing at a station, dropping a target in person, then running like he had smoked a joint of Onionhead and blown the smoke in the face of Hudson himself.
Yeah, a cobra served his needs a lot better than an Eagle would. Maybe then he could get into smuggling as well. He always wanted to-
“Framshift drive charg-”
“Fuck off!” Nick shouted into his systems panel. He really needed to figure out how to shut off the AI. Ten spoke in a monotone voice most of the time as well, but at least she didn’t repeat herself a hundred million times!
Another idea popped into Nick’s mind, rendering him silent for awhile. He really had no reason to put himself through the hassle. It could have been just as easy to tell Persing what had happened, then lure Ten and Cartlidge into a trap. He’d probably be able to get twice what Cartlidge offered him if he did. He didn’t owe them anything, and he was more than happy to never have to deal with the bounty hunter ever again.
“Fuel scooping…” He let out a sigh as he stared into the bright glow of a solar flare. He knew he wouldn’t do it, even if it made perfect sense to do it. He couldn’t do it. She resembled Anna too closely for him to do it, and as much as he hated to admit it, Jacob reminded him of his older brother as well. Maybe that’s why he stuck around…
“Fuel scooping complete,” the AI announced, bringing Nick’s train of thought back to the task at hand.
“One more jump.”